SL Green, partner buy UWS apartment building

SL Green Realty Corp. and Stonehenge Partners will be taking a 99-year ground lease for the residential building located at 1080 Amsterdam Ave.

SL Green Realty Corp., the city's largest commercial landlord, has partnered with Stonehenge Partners to redevelop a 96-unit pre-war building just south of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus into a luxury rental project, SL Green announced Wednesday.

The two firms will enter into a 99-year ground lease for the 20-story residential building located at 1080 Amsterdam Ave., at West 113th Street, with St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. Once they take possession, they plan to invest about $13 million in a renovation. It's unclear when that will take place, but the work is expected to be completed within two years of its start date. Most recently, St. Luke's used the 82,250-square-foot building for staff housing.

"Our relationship with SL Green is certainly off to a great start," said Ofer Yardeni, managing partner of Stonehenge in a statement. "Capitalizing on our respective strengths, we seek to take advantage of the best property ownership opportunities, acquire those properties and then maximize value in ways that appeal to tenants while also meeting our objectives as investors."

SL Green declined to comment beyond the press announcement. Stonehenge could not immediately be reached for further comment. Paul Massey, CEO of Massey Knakal Realty Services, which represented St. Luke's in the transaction, said the hospital no longer needed the space and had moved its staff to alternate sites.

“SL Green and Stonehenge will be great long term partners for St. Luke’s,” Mr. Massey said, adding that the hospital decided to lease the property because it was thinking strategically and viewed it as a long-term asset.

The deal is the second joint venture between SL Green and Stonehenge. Earlier this year, the team said it closed on the acquisition of seven commercial and multifamily properties for $193.1 million. The acquisitions included the prestigious retail property of 724 Madison Avenue, between East 56th and East 57th streets, and two multifamily buildings, 400 E. 57th St., with 260 units, and 400 E. 58th St., with 125 units.

Stonehenge owns and manages 26 buildings with more than 3,000 rental apartments and close to 800,000 square feet of retail, office and garage space in the city. Most recently, the real estate firm sold 6 W. 107th St.—a seven-story, 21-unit apartment building—for $8.75 million after owning it for 17 years. In a statement on that deal, Mr. Yardeni said "the sale price we achieved is almost 13 times higher than the original price. The building plan has been executed and the property was mature to be sold."

Crain’s New York Business is the trusted voice of the New York business community—connecting businesses across the five boroughs by providing analysis and opinion on how to navigate New York’s complex business and political landscape.